The Kyoto-based Nintendo reiterated it's not filing any complaint against Flappy Birds' use of green pipes.
Nintendo is the developer and publisher of the all-time favorite game Super Mario Bros. If you still remember, Mario, the main protagonist of the game, is maneuvered to skip through, step on, and get in and out of green pipes that are closely similar to what was seen in the Indie smash-hit Flappy Bird.
When Dong Nguyen, the Vietnam-based-developer of Flappy Bird, announced that it will shut down the game, many fans got dismayed and amidst his claims that it's his personal decision to shut the game down, rumors started spreading.
One of the rumors involves the Japanese multinational consumer electronics company. It said that the shutdown of Flappy Bird was prompted by a complaint filed by Nintendo concerning the use of the green pipes. Yasuhiro Minagawa, a spokesperson for Nintendo, immediately denied allegations. However, it didn't stop the malicious news from its further spread.
In a statement, Minagawa clarified again that his company didn't file any complaint against Flappy Bird.
"While we usually do not comment on the rumors and speculations, we have already denied the speculation," he stated in an e-mail to the Wall Street Journal.
Another rumor about Flappy Bird's sudden closure is about a violation of Vietnam's rules on Internet use, which went into effect in September.
However, Nguyen's game seems not have violated any of the rules, said Tran Manh Hung, a lawyer at the Baker & McKenzie-affiliated BMVN International, a Hanoi-based law firm specializing in intellectual property and technology issues.
Hung told WSJ in an e-mail, "Local Internet regulations do not specifically prohibit a local developer, such as Dong Nguyen, from providing his online game to an off-shore entity like Apple, unless the game contains illegal information or Dong Nguyen fails to comply with other local regulations."
